Muslim women fight hunger for Ramadan

Fasting is integral to Ramadan, which begins at sundown Monday, as a reminder to Muslims of what it is like to experience hunger. But for 230 Central Florida Muslim families, the monthlong observance begins with a box of food provided by a group of charitable women.

"It's about experiencing what others have to go through on a daily basis and then doing something in your life to make their lives better," said Sadaf Saied, secretary of the Muslim Women's Organization of Central Florida. "We are encouraged to feed the hungry and to feel hunger during Ramadan."

The Ramadan care packages include dates; cereal; oatmeal; pasta; cans of fruit and vegetables; lentils; flour; sugar; cooking oil; and a 25-pound sack of rice. About 60 women spent two days assembling the packages, which were distributed to mosques throughout Central Florida and the Islamic Society of Central Florida's social-services organization.

"It is so wonderful to see the community come out to help the less fortunate," said Hajira M. Shujaat, 36, of Winter Garden.

On July 25, the Muslim women will celebrate Iftar, the end of Ramadan, with a shared meal and ceremony at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando.

The group raised $17,000 for the care-package project, with enough left over to give every recipient a $20 gift card to Walmart. This is the second time the organization, which formed in 2010, has assembled the Ramadan care packages. Last year, the group fed 180 families.

"The month of Ramadan is about giving and helping those less fortunate," said Ayesha Rab, 28, of Orlando. "This makes us feel we are giving back to community."

The Muslim women also have donated backpacks to schoolchildren and collected toys as part of their community-service mission. They conduct Thanksgiving food drives for Memorial Middle School and its feeder elementary schools.

And they do it all with a core of 30 active members and about 60 volunteers.

For Ramadan, none of the families receiving the packages knows the women who raised the money, bought the food and assembled the food boxes. And none of the Muslim women knows the families benefiting from their compassion.

"We don't know the names of these families. They [the mosques] just tell us how many members there are in the family," Rab said.

Ramadan is not only about charity toward others, but also a month devoted to introspection and reflection — without the self-centeredness.

"It's not all about you," said Saied, 38, of Windermere. "There are things that you can do for others."

It's a time when Muslims are encouraged to think about the past year and pledge to be better in the future. It's not only about eating less, but also paring down the everyday excesses of life to the basic necessities, Shujaat said.

"The premise of Ramadan is to cut back, self-reflect, see how the other half lives," she said. "It's like the fasting of your whole soul."